July 20, 2008

Stratosphere hotel- stay away- far away

I travel a lot. I love it. (some 22,000 miles in the last few weeks alone).

I love Vegas. I got proposed to in Vegas. Been there 4 times this year so far.

I have a good friend that lives there, it was his birthday weekend (happy birthday Tom). And since he is really more like family and cause I love Vegas, I planned a girls weekend to Vegas. Birthday party. Dancing. Fun.

Got a good flight.

Booked a sports car (got a corvette convertible)

Looked for a room. All the folks I know that go to Vegas and want to stay at a casino/resort, they are not real picky on which one they stay at, who has the best deal the time you want to go, right? Stayed at Caesar's, Hard Rock, Luxor, The Hotel at Mandoly, Paris, Venetian, Planet Hollywood, etc.

I had never stayed at Stratosphere before. I'd BEEN there before. Who hasn't? Done the tower thing. Ate dinner up there. Seemed okay.

Their prices were a little bit lower than the others. And for that price I got a handful of extras and an upgraded room. Not bad. And it was just a quick girls weekend.

I arrive. I go to check in. Seems pretty simple to me to check in. A pre-paid reservation. I used their kiosk to self checkin. It was rather un-remarkable, I checked in, got my room keys, and was on my way, no waiting in line. I stopped and asked one of the wandering bellmen how to get to my room. He told me how to go thru their maze and find my bank of elevators.

I get to my room. It was dark, dreary, old, smelly, and awful. THIS was an upgraded room? With a view of the HVAC system? I called the front desk. On hold. I get Miss Unhelpful on the line. She tells me the upgraded room I reserved (and PAID for already) was not available, so instead of upgrading me, they downgraded me. Without bothering to tell me. Great customer service missy. I get my point across and get a new room.

Bellman arrives with new keys. I make my way back thru the maze, bellman was nice, helpful, etc. Told me new room was much better. I get into new room and it was a disaster. Housekeeping hadn't finished. Beds were half made. Stack of dirty wet towels in the bathroom. Overflowing trash cans. Ewww.

I call front desk. Again. On hold. Again. Asked for manager, busy with other customers. Finally get someone. Did I tell you I had friends waiting for me to go out for dinner with their family? At this point, I don't even know if this is a nicer room or not. It it just gross. Ok, new bellman. New keys. New room. Bellman was very nice, was also disgusted by the state of the room. He suggested to me that I make sure the manager takes care of me. Go for free food, drinks, etc.

It was like Holiday Inn. This was not some premium room in a Vegas resort. It was dark and dreary still. Not even conditioner for my hair (yes, that is one of the items on my list for a better place to stay). Thick industrial plastic shower curtain too.

I call for the manager. She is still too busy. Yes, have her call me. I call friends and tell them to go out to dinner without me. No call yet from manager. I call again. She is still busy with other (translation to me is more important customers) and if I really want to talk to her, I should just come down to the front desk. Really? Great. Remind me again, I AM the customer, right?

What seems like forever later, manager calls. I tell her of my experience so far. Silly me, I assume she would be outraged as well, concerned with helping me have a good stay. She was tired and cranky and I was just another burden to her. There is no doubt in my mind she did not care whatsoever if I dropped dead, let alone had a good stay.

I tell her I don't want free food, or drinks or anything. I want the nice room I was expecting. Didn't think I was asking for much. Just what was advertised and PAID for, right? She then tells me I am already in one of their best rooms. Excuse me? THIS is the best you have? What a disgrace to Las Vegas. She was dismissive and left me practically speechless (ok, process it, grin and move on people, me speechless? I get it).

Moral of the story- stay away from Stratosphere. I say not just the hotel. The casino. The tower and its rides and restaurants. Stay away. I am accustomed to being treated at minimum with respect from those that I am paying for service and not only did I get nothing close to it, but was treated poorly. Just for showing up and asking for what I paid for.

I stayed there two years ago for one night. Room carpet was so dirty my socks turned black on the bottoms. Was told there were no other rooms available to switch to.

Following morning tried to go to the tower. Had the photographer at the base threaten to have me banned from the tower if I didn't stop to take one of their cheesy tourist photos before boarding the elevator up. I said bring on the manager at which point I was let through.

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